Into the Light (8 page)

Dane puffed out his chest and said, “I have nothing to pack. I dropped everything and rushed here as quickly as I could, when Cecilia summoned.” He looked particularly proud of that fact.

Tanner thought he sounded like a stupid, lovesick lapdog. If this was the kind of guy Cecilia dated, he could understand why she was giving him adoring looks.

He wondered if all the male lightbearers were like Dane. If so, he knew exactly why Olivia and Cecilia had escaped to Vegas.

Once the ladies were in the bedroom, Dane leaned against the wall, trying to be cool, while Tanner dropped onto the sofa, affecting the very epitome of cool without even trying.

“If you hurt her in any way—” Dane started. Tanner cut him off.

“Obviously, we did not hear the same version of events just a minute ago.”

“I heard what she said,” Dane replied. “And I also see the way you look at her. Olivia is a very special person, and I will not abide anyone hurting her—especially you.”

Tanner sat there and wondered what Dane saw in the way he looked at Olivia.

Like all shifters, Quentin Lyons understood the significance of taking a female from behind. It was how shifters declared they were mated. It was a pact, one you made forever. It was also Quentin’s favorite way to fuck.

Conveniently, he was already mated, and he was the pack master as well, so as far as he was concerned, he could do whatever the hell he wanted. Still, whenever he was in the mood for a shifter-style fuck, he sent one of his minions to the nearest human bar to pick up an attractive human female. Shifter females too well understood the significance of shifter-style fucking.

Plus, he was the pack master, so every shifter within a thousand miles knew who the hell he was. Shifters were also notorious rumormongers, and it was bad enough that the rumor mill whispered of various children within this pack who carried Quentin’s blood in their veins, even though he’d never formally claimed any of them.

None were legitimate, so none would do as his heir. He had only one legitimate son, thanks to his useless mate, who’d never managed to produce another, despite Quentin forcing himself upon her time and time again over the course of the last forty years.

The human female who was brought to him last night pleased him greatly. She wasn’t shy or timid or afraid of him, which was a nice change. In fact, she was aroused by him, by his dominance and power. He could smell it, almost the moment she was presented to him. They’d fucked for the first time less than fifteen minutes later.

They spent the night alternating between dozing and fucking. He was exhausted, but not enough to deny her when she’d rolled over a short time ago and wrapped her lips around his cock, suckling at him until he shoved her away, rolled over, grabbed her hips, and slammed into her from behind. She grabbed the sheets and made noises of encouragement as he pressed closer and closer to release. He even entertained thoughts of keeping her around, just for this purpose.

There was a sharp knock on the outer door and Quentin cursed as he surged into the woman one last time, stiffening and pouring his seed into her as she continued to wiggle her hips and beg him to move harder and faster. Unfortunately for her, he was done. He pulled out and pushed her away as he rolled off the bed and padded to the attached bathroom.

“Enter,” he called out, just as he closed the bathroom door.

When he emerged again, fully dressed and washed of the woman’s scent, one of his guards, a shifter named Mike, stood just inside the door, trying unsuccessfully not to look at the human woman, who sat naked on the bed, pouting.

“Why are you still here?” Quentin asked.

“You didn’t finish,” she complained with a swift glance at Mike.

“On the contrary, I did.”

“You didn’t finish
me
.”

Quentin regarded her for a moment and then waved at Mike. “Mike, finish her.”

Both Mike and the woman looked startled.

“After you tell me why you’re here,” Quentin amended.

Mike cleared his throat and looked everywhere except at the woman, who scrambled to dress herself. “We have possible news about the lightbearer.”

Quentin’s interest was immediately piqued. “What news? From Vegas?”

Mike shook his head. “From out near the border of the territory, near the highway. Where the humans tried to build that industrial park, fifteen years ago or so.”

Quentin flicked a glance at his human bed partner, but she was too busy admiring her image in the mirror to pay any attention to their conversation.

“What of it?”

“Couple of trackers were out there, sniffing around, searching for the lightbearer. They saw Vincent Bearrans and his cousin, Freddy, out there. Vincent gave him a car.”

“So?”

“There were two other beings in Freddy’s SUV.”

Anticipation thrummed through Quentin’s system. The prospect of capturing the lightbearer again held more appeal than sex.

“They didn’t get a solid look. Didn’t want to get too close, to spook them, or let them pick up their scent. But they said it was a male and female. Male wore a straw cowboy hat. Female wore a scarf over her hair.”

“I don’t suppose they determined the color of her hair?” No shifters in his pack had blonde hair, so if they claimed the woman had blonde hair…

“They couldn’t tell.”

“Where are the male and female now?”

Mike rubbed the back of his neck and looked distinctly uncomfortable. Being the bearer of bad news to Quentin could well get one killed, if he was in that frame of mind.

“The trackers let them go. They followed Freddy instead,” he added hastily.

“And where is Freddy Bearrans now?”

“In the basement, waiting for you to question him.”

Quentin rubbed his hands together. It was better than nothing, he supposed. He glanced at the human woman.

“Stay here,” he ordered. “I’ve decided I’m not done with you yet,” he said just before he and Mike left the room together.

* * * *

He abused Freddy until he was slicked with sweat and so exhausted he was certain he could not lift his arm to take another swing. Still, Freddy would not tell Quentin anything about his son. He directed one of his guards, a massive shifter that everyone called Butch, to continue the work Quentin started. Unfortunately, Freddy was rendered unconscious before he could give up any information.

“Is he mated?” He didn’t bother to keep up with the personal lives of his pack members. He didn’t particularly care, so long as they all obeyed him unconditionally.

“Yes,” Mike answered. “Her name is Lisa. They have a young pup, and she is due to whelp their second soon.”

Quentin wiped sweat from his brow and started up the stairs. “Bring him. Let’s call on his mate.”

* * * *

Lisa and her pup were not at their home. It took precious hours for Quentin’s trackers to figure out that her parents had a home tucked into the woods up on a mountain. It was still within pack territory, as required by the pack master, but remote enough that it would not be on anyone’s radar when they conducted their search for Tanner, after he escaped with Quentin’s lightbearer. Quentin grudgingly respected his son’s choice of hiding places, as he sat in the passenger seat of a full-size truck, Butch at the wheel, two other guards seated in the extended cab, and Freddy’s unconscious, abused body lying in the bed.

Once he saw her in person, Quentin vaguely recognized Lisa as one who used to spend a great deal of time with his son, before Tanner left the pack. Which meant she and her mate had almost certainly spoken with Tanner before he left this last time and taken the lightbearer with him.

“Freddy,” she screamed when two of Quentin’s guards dragged her mate into the house and let him fall to the floor in the middle of the living room. Quentin allowed her to drop to the floor next to Freddy’s head, gave her just a moment to determine that he was, indeed, still alive, and then he motioned for his guards to pick her up and push her into a nearby armchair.

She wrapped her arms protectively around her massive belly and affected a sullen look, although her eyes kept darting to her prone mate, who lay in a bloody, unconscious heap on the floor.

Quentin sniffed the air. “I smell something intriguing,” he said softly, giving her the opportunity to speak without coercion. He knew he was a bastard, but the woman was heavy with a pup in her belly—a full-blooded, legitimate shifter that would only help to grow the ranks of Quentin’s pack. He would not hurt her—badly—unless she forced his hand.

“I just put a meatloaf in the oven,” she replied.

He backhanded her. Bloody spittle flew from her mouth as her head whipped to the side, and she let out a cry of pain.

A dark-haired shifter pup appeared in the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “Mommy?” She looked at the shifter lying on the floor. “Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?” She started to run toward Freddy, but at a sharp nod from Quentin, one of his guards scooped her up and deposited her into her mother’s lap. Lisa grabbed the child’s head and forced her face into Lisa’s shoulder.

“What did he do?” Lisa demanded.

“Wouldn’t give me the information I required,” Quentin responded.

Lisa’s gaze darted from Freddy to Quentin to her daughter and back again. He watched as she came to a decision in her mind.

“What do you want to know?” she finally asked.

Quentin smiled. “Good girl,” he said approvingly.

“Time to go,” Tanner said brusquely, as he disconnected the call he’d taken just a few minutes prior.

“Who was that?” Olivia asked as she dragged a rolling suitcase into the sitting room of the hotel suite.

“Lisa. Quentin figured out she and Freddy helped us. She said he also figured out we’re in Vegas. It’s time to leave.
Now
.”

Cecilia came trotting out of the bedroom dragging her own suitcase. Dane grabbed each woman’s suitcase and headed toward the door. “We can take it from here. Thank you for your services, shifter.”

“It’s Tanner, and I’m not leaving you three alone until I know you’re safely back in your coterie.”

“I am perfectly capable of protecting Olivia and Cecilia,” Dane said with a sniff.

Tanner snorted out his disbelief.

Olivia decided to put an end to the argument. If Tanner wanted to be their bodyguard, she saw no reason not to take him up on his offer. After observing he and Dane standing side by side, she no longer had faith that Dane could protect them, either. She never realized how small Dane was until now. Or maybe it was just that Tanner was so
big
.

“We all go,” she said sharply. “Together.”

Dane opened his mouth to argue, but she quelled him with a look. Tanner smirked. Cecilia batted her eyelashes at him. Olivia wondered when she would ever escape from the rabbit hole.

She looked at Tanner. “Do you think they will be able to figure out we’re at this particular hotel?”

To her dismay, he nodded. “Shifters have an amazing sense of smell. And Quentin has some seriously badass trackers in his pack. They’ll find us.”

It was the middle of the night by the time they left the hotel. The attached parking garage where they’d left the car was lit with incandescent lights that gave everything a faint blue tinge. The world outside the parking garage was a sea of bright, flashing lights and swarms of people. Inside the garage, there were deep pools of shadows where the lights did not reach.

Tanner grabbed Olivia’s arm. “Dane, you have Cecilia,” he commanded. Dane nodded once and produced a sword. Tanner sighed. “Put the sword away. Humans don’t use swords and you’ll just draw unwanted attention.”

“Besides, you need to conserve your strength,” Olivia added. “We’ve half the night before we can regenerate ourselves.”

Dane nodded again and released the magic, causing the sword to disappear. Then he grabbed Cecilia’s arm in a death grip.

* * * *

They were within five feet of the car when they were attacked. With only one warning snarl, half a dozen wolves stepped out of the shadows and began slowly advancing toward them. A small group of humans who were also heading toward their car took one look at the wolves and turned and rushed back into the hotel.

Tanner froze and instantly began calculating his next move. “Go ahead and produce that sword now, Dane,” he said quietly as he surveyed the group of wolves that now almost completely surrounded them. They could still make a dash for the hotel, but then they’d be trapped inside, surrounded by humans who were blithely unaware of the magical world. He would not be responsible for human deaths. They needed to get to the car and get out of this town.

He recognized most of the shifters, even in their animal forms. Finn, the shifter who’d let them leave the manor home, was one of them. Tanner hoped that boded well for he and his small group of lightbearers, but he wasn’t about to count on it.

Especially not when Quentin himself stepped out of the shadows, in human form, and dressed, as ever, in head-to-toe black.

“Well damn,” he said smoothly as he surveyed Tanner and the lightbearers. “They just keep multiplying. I admit, I am duly impressed, my son. One for each of us and one to spare.”

Tanner did not respond. He was too busy wondering how good Dane was with that sword. Seven shifters against one plus a questionable lightbearer warrior and two fairly helpless females did not make for very good odds. To make matters worse, he assumed that the lightbearers would run out of steam sooner rather than later, given the fact that it was the middle of the night.

“So this is where they have been hiding, is it? Smart,” Quentin said with a nod. “It is easy to hide in Vegas. Although, not anymore.” His grin was pure evil. “Do you think there is a limit on how much magic I can inherit? Or can I just keep killing and killing them, as I see fit?”

“You cannot possibly believe that ridiculous old tale,” Dane sputtered. “How preposterous. If we die, our magic dies with us. You are a fool if you believe otherwise.”

Tanner mentally slapped his forehead. Quentin narrowed his eyes and studied the male lightbearer.

“Kill this one first,” he said. “Let’s see if his words are true.”